In this guest posts, Russell J. White, shares some insights on success and failure.

Did the leaders of Enron start out trying to lie to their investors? Did Bernie Madoff intend on defrauding those who trusted and believe in him? Did you wake up this morning intent on getting so upset in a 2 pm meeting where you said things in anger that could cost you your job? No, but it happens every day.

Have you ever asked how did we get here? 

Every day we are faced with infinite possibilities and hundreds of decisions. The path those decisions leads us on has us end up where we brought ourselves to. Without question there is randomness and luck involved in the decisions we face. Read Malcolm Gladwell’s excellent book Outliers on the impact fortune has on our lives.

What we do with those decisions is our choice and ultimately leads us to face the next set of choices along that path. Most of us have faced decisions to try cigarettes, alcohol, drugs, illicit activity, and to cheat, to lie, to over-indulge, we get to prioritize our lives as we decide. These become significant choices that significantly impact who we become. Each day we set our path face critical moments that propel us along.

How have the decisions you made as a teenager impacted you today?

What did you decide six months ago that has you now reaping those results?

There is no one path to success or one path to ruin. We choose our own way. The critical moments occur in considering the choices you make on each decision. With each decision ask yourself, “Does this get me to where I want to go?” Whether it is personal choices or professional choices, you need to consider which direction each step takes you.

Know where you want to go.

Know the direction you want to take to reach that end point.

With each step make progress along the path of your choosing.

I often hear people wanting to experience success and they always ask, “How do I get there?” You can’t borrow another person’s playbook because it won’t fit your decisions you face. You achieve success with each step in the right direction. Choose your decision steps with the desired result in mind.

Russell J. White, President of PinnacleSolutions.org is one of America’s leading business growth strategists. He is an author, consultant, international speaker and business expert on leadership, marketing and growth strategies. Since 1991 Russell has worked with hundreds of clients.  He has been a frequent guest on television and radio. He is considered both a motivational speaker and a business expert.  Russell also writes and publishes the Grow Your Business blog.  Contact him at 803-984-9448 or RJWhite@PinnacleSolutions.org

In this short video, I discuss monitoring your goals. Have you reviewed your goals recently? It is important to remember that just setting your goal will not accomplish it. You must monitor it with persistence to make sure that you achieve it. If you haven’t reviewed your goals since you made them in January – do it now! The year is over half way over! (This, of course, goes for business plans too!)

In this video blog that I filmed while vacationing with my family at Niagara Falls, I discuss the following five facts about business growth:

1)  There is no such thing as a mature business or market.

2)  Not all growth is good growth.  Some growth can be disastrous for your Company.

3)  Growth is a mentality – created by the leaders within a Company

4)  Balance growth is the key to long-term prosperity.

5)  Growing your business is much less risky than NOT growing your business.

Text Summary:

Signed into law on June 4, 2008 by Governor Mark Sanford, the South Carolina Illegal Immigration Reform Act (“SC Immigration Act”) began on July 1, 2009 for private employers with 100 or more employees. All businesses that have employees – even as few as one – must begin to abide by the provisions of the act by July 1, 2010.

To insure compliance with the SC Immigration Act, the South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation will perform audits of employers. It will also investigate complaints against employers. In addition for being required to notify Federal and State agencies responsible for the enforcement of immigration law, there are stiff monetary penalties for failure to abide by the provisions of the law. If an employer fails to follow proper procedures for verifying worker eligibility, they will be fined a minimum of $100 and a maximum of $1,000 – per employee. If you are a small business who cycles through a fairly large amount of workers, this could become quite costly. If an employer knowingly or intentionally employs an illegal alien may get his license suspended or revoked. During the period that the license is suspended or revoked, the employer is not allowed to employ any employees. As you can see, this law can quickly put you out of business if you fail to abide by its provisions.